A late push that included a live remote telethon last week helped the Prairieland United Way close a big gap as this season’s campaign comes to an end.
Two weeks ago the Prairieland United Way stood at just 80% of reaching the goal of $460,000 for the 2021 “BE SOMEONE’S HERO” campaign.
Executive Director for Prairieland United Way, Karen Walker, says the three-day live event held at County Market in Jacksonville Last Thursday through Saturday had a huge impact in closing the gap.
Yesterday we spend the day entering in all of the donations we had received and getting that total, and I’m happy to say that we’ve made great strides in getting closer to our goal. We are now at 96% to our goal. Two weeks we were at 80% so we have just really seen the community step up. Businesses have stepped up with corporate donations, we’ve had individuals. New donors and past donors turned out, it was just an amazing turnout.”
Walker says it was amazing to see the community step up and help push the campaign closer to reaching the goal, and she says even though the campaign is technically over, there is still time to get any last-minute donations into this year’s goal.
“While we are not quite there yet, we have still seen donations trickling in, people who have said we will be sending you something. So we will be able to include those in our final count. So if someone has not been able to make it in who intended to make a donation, we will still be finishing out through the rest of this week with any last-minute donations.
But it was truly amazing to see the results that we got, and I agree, I think that is what our goal was going into the event, to really stress the importance of how much of an impact the United Way funds make on the community and the support the agencies are able to give to those who need it.”
During the live broadcast from County Market last Thursday, past campaign chairs, as well as representatives of agencies who are supported by the Prairieland United Way, were on hand to help inform the public of how the campaign helps the community every day. Nearly $7,500 was raised in the three-day event.
More than 35,000 people are assisted annually by the United Ways funding of 28 agencies and 37 programs in Morgan, Scott, Cass, and northern Greene counties.
The public was also enticed to make a donation to the campaign during the remote event, as donors were registered for a $500.00 gift card from County Market, which was won by South Jacksonville resident Bruce Richards.
To make a last-minute donation or for more information about the United Way, please contact Executive Director Karen Walker at 217-245-4557 or stop by the office located at the Jacksonville Municipal Building located at 200 West Douglas in Jacksonville.